Apple and Google mull video alliance

Newseeek confirms Apple and Google are in discussion over video content for the Cupertino company's video products.

by
Macworld staff
, | 18 Sep 06

Apple and Google are in discussion over video content for the Cupertino company's video products, including the not-yet-available iTV device.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the wraps off iTV (which won't be called that when it is launched in the first half of next year) during his Showtime series of iTunes and iPod announcements last week.

This week, Newsweek is reporting that Apple and search engine giant Google are trying to reach an agreement that lets the latter firm supply video clips for Apple's products.

iTV is a box which will let users stream movie and video content held in their iTunes collections to their TV.

"The breakthrough came when we realised that we didn't have to replace the set-top box," Jobs told Newsweek. "It's OK if we adopt the DVD player as our model. Then you can hook up to anything - and just be like a DVD player that happens to play internet videos."

When the Apple boss demonstrated the product last week he showed how it works with an Apple Remote to let users navigate video content stored on networked Macs.

Jobs also showed that it can be used to access Apple's movie trailer library and to explore music on the iTunes Store. Now it appears that a new menu item may debut that permits users to access Google Video clips on their front room TV.